Word of the day

by Korau on June 14, 2016 at 6:15am

The word for today is…

assassin (noun) – 1. One who murders by surprise attack, especially one who carries out a plot to kill a prominent person.
2. A member of a militant subgroup of Ismailis that in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries carried out political assassinations directed especially against Seljuk rule.

Etymology : 1530’s (in Anglo-Latin from mid-13th century), via French and Italian, from Arabic hashishiyyin “hashish-users,” plural of hashishiyy, from the source of hashish. A fanatical Ismaili Muslim sect of the time of the Crusades, under leadership of the “Old Man of the Mountains” (translates Arabic shaik-al-jibal, name applied to Hasan ibu-al-Sabbah), with a reputation for murdering opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves by eating hashish. The plural suffix -in was mistaken in Europe for part of the word.

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Peter is a fourth-generation New Zealander, with his mother’s and father’s folks having arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s. He lives in Lower Hutt with his wife, three cats and assorted computers.

His work history has been in the timber, banking and real estate industries, and he’s now enjoying retirement. He has been interested in computers for over thirty years and is a strong advocate for free open source software. He is chairman of the SeniorNet Hutt City committee.